Replaced
by Rukita
Summary: Mimi's personality, appearance, and even her Digimon have been changed by the TV show writers to fit their idea of a well-rounded kid-oriented show. This is the "real" story.
1. First Encounters

Chapter Three: First Encounters  
  
We continued wandering around trying to find the others until we finally stopped at a stream to rest. The water seemed clean enough, and it was unknown where we would next find a source of water, so I refilled my water bottle. Jou jokingly fussed at me for being over-prepared. He did, however, bring up a good point: we were all very fortunate that I had so many resourceful things in my backpack, and we should conserve them carefully.  
  
Just as Jou was about to pick me up again so we could continue on, I heard a shout from the far stream bank. When I turned to look, I saw Yamato and Taichi. They waded across the shallow stream to our resting spot.  
  
"Are you two all right?" Taichi asked. Jou nodded.  
  
"Yes, besides the fact that I found Mimi unconscious. She's ok now, but still too weak to stand." Yamato rolled his eyes.  
  
"How about letting the patient deliver her own diagnosis, doctor," he sarcastically remarked. I sheepishly glanced away; I know I'm not naturally strong, but I hate feeling helpless. I tried to stand on my own to prove Jou wrong, but my leg muscles shook involuntarily, and my knees quickly gave way. Taichi appeared to hide a chuckle as I fell, but Yamato's cool, reserved expression remained.  
  
"Don't strain yourself just yet; I'll carry you now, since I'm sure Jou is running out of energy." Jou's face tightened, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.  
  
"If we're ever to work together and trust each other, Yamato's going to have to loose the bitterness he has against Jou," I thought. Yamato seemed nice enough to everyone else, what did he have against Jou? Yamato put my backpack on and effortlessly picked me up and started down the trail.  
  
"Let's go; we have to make sure everyone else is safe, particularly Takeru; he's too young to survive in this potentially dangerous environment." Yamato turned back towards the stream. "Tsunomon, hurry up! We haven't got all day!" A fuzzy, orange creature with a horn growing out of head burst through the surface of the water.  
  
"Aw, Yamato, I'm not done yet!" he protested. Yamato tapped his foot impatiently.  
  
"Oh please, if you drink any more you'll explode!" Tsunomon reluctantly bounced onto the shore.  
  
"Koromon, you too!" Taichi shouted. Another ball-like Digimon bounded out of the water. He was pink with long ears and two curious eyes. He jumped up into Taichi's arms, giggling. "All right, that's everyone; let's go," Taichi commanded. I felt Yamato's grip on me tighten; I doubt he liked being bossed around any more than I do (and I don't). I thought it was quite strange how many of my own qualities I could see reflected in the others since I've always thought of myself as being unusual and different.  
  
The trail was rather flat, probably because we were following the river, and so traveling along it was fairly comfortable.  
  
"So, do you guys know if there are any villages around here? I would like to make a call home." Taichi asked the little monsters. Koromon shook his head.  
  
"Nope, you four are the only humans anywhere around here." My heart sunk; I was kind of hoping to get back to camp (or better yet, home).  
  
"Where do you suppose we are then?" Yamato wondered out loud. "Could we be in Korea or something? I've never seen these types of plants back in Japan." Jou nodded in agreement.  
  
"I've never come across plants like these in botany class; look as this flower, could it be a new species?" Jou asked as he reached for the plant. Bukamon sprang forward.  
  
"That's not a plant; it's another Digimon!" Jou stepped back as the flower rustled and stepped forward.  
  
"You woke me up! I was having such a nice dream too." This Digimon was pink and round like Koromon. She had several long toes, all lined up in a circle, and a tropical-looking flower (I think it was a flower) growing at the top of her head. Although this Digimon sounded slightly annoyed she still had a warm smile.  
  
"Who are you?" Jou asked, still taken aback.  
  
"Yokomon, Sora's Digimon!" she exclaimed with a wide grin. "She's over there, playing with a little boy." Yamato's eyes widened.  
  
"That must be Takeru! Takeru!" He shouted and started running in the direction that Yokomon had pointed. I clung to his arm tightly so he wouldn't accidentally drop me as he leaped over shrubs and roots. We neared a clearing and saw Sora and Takeru calmly sitting on a mossy log.  
  
"Hiya Onii-chan! Where were you? Guess what! Me and Sora got our own Digimon! Do you have one too?"  
  
"Sora and I," I muttered, "Sora and I. Wow, this kid could use a grammar lesson or two." Yamato dropped me on a soft pile of leaves and rushed over to his little brother and placed my backpack on the ground.  
  
"I'm so glad I found you!" he exclaimed, hugging Takeru.  
  
"Me too!" his brother replied.  
  
"Ow," I moaned. Sora jumped off the log.  
  
"What happened to you?" she asked as she helped me sit up.  
  
"Thanks. I, well, I kinda injured myself when I landed here," I lied. I strangely didn't want anyone to know the truth; maybe I'd tell them some day.  
  
"Well," Takeru interrupted as a white Digimon with long ears and a toothy grin jumped joyfully onto his shoulder, "My Digimon's name is Tokomon, and he's real nice. I wonder if all Digimon are as great as he is? Where's yo-" he was sharply cut off by a loud humming sound; it reminded me of a bee, only much louder. Suddenly, a giant, red beetle came crashing out from the trees on the other side of the clearing. Its massive pincers sliced at the air and its dangerous-looking mouth let out high-pitched screeches that sent chills down my spine.  
  
"Um, Takeru? That's not a very nice Digimon," Tokomon informed Takeru, "in fact, he's really dangerous!" I rolled my eyes at this comment.  
  
"Well, no duh," I thought, "what will your next suggestion be: that we run away? Slight problem: I CAN'T RUN!" I tend to get sarcastic and rather nasty when I'm scared, and I had never been more terrified in my life. Considering what Katamon, a little pastel-blue ball, had done to me, what was this monster capable of? Sora and I fell to the ground and began crawling to the nearest tree (well, I slithered more than anything; my legs were still mostly immobile). Yamato grabbed Takeru (who was still holding Tokomon) and dashed behind our hiding tree.  
  
"Now what are we supposed to do?" he hissed as the huge beetle turned around and swooped down at us again. I then realized as Sora, Takeru, and Yamato squatted there in terror that they would have taken off if it wasn't for me.  
  
"Run," I answered to Yamato. "Don't worry about me; I can hide in these dead leaves." Yamato stiffened up, debating whether to go or not. I was really getting ticked. "Listen, if you don't go, I might just have to try and stop this thing myself; I'm certainly crazy enough!" I grasped the tree trunk and pulled myself up to show I wasn't bluffing (although I'm pretty sure I was). Sora stood slowly and took a step back and bit her lip. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes but she blinked them away and took off running. Yamato put Takeru on his back and followed her, but only after giving one last remorseful glance. I collapsed back to the ground and frantically scrambled to cover myself in leaves.  
  
The Digimon's humming wings grew louder until they were right behind me. I ducked into a ball, covering my head with my arms. Cold tears flowed down my cheeks as I tried to still my shivering body. There was a loud crack followed by a whoosh of air and a dull thud. I slowly lifted my head an inch and glanced around. The thick trunk of the tree I had taken cover behind was lying six inches away from my right shoulder!  
  
I sat up, in hopes that the Digimon had disappeared, but found no such luck. It had only flown in another circle and was coming right back to finish me off! I pushed myself off of the ground and tried to run but couldn't even stand before falling face-flat on the ground. My arms strained to try and push me back up to a sitting position and I could almost feel the adrenaline being released into my bloodstream. My heart was pounding a hole in my chest and my lungs felt as if they would burst. I took in one deep breath and let out the loudest, most forceful scream I ever have (and ever will) hear. The attacking Digimon was obviously shocked by the scream and wobbled a little, just barely missing my head as it flew by. However, it quickly regained its composure, turned around, and streaked through the air.  
  
A short pink blob rushed by my left arm in the direction of the beast.  
  
"Hi," I heard it say, "sorry, but there's no time for proper introductions, Mimi." I probably would have wondered how this pink ghost-looking thing knew my name if I wasn't absolutely petrified. I heard the rustle of leaves as someone kneeled down beside me.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked. I looked over and saw Koushiro helping me up. "Why didn't you run?" His question was answered as my knees buckled and I fell. "Sorry, I didn't know," he apologized as he scooped me up.  
  
"Good thing I don't weigh much," I thought, "considering that this is the third time someone's needed to carry me." Koushiro turned back towards where the pink blob and the beetle Digimon were fighting.  
  
"Motimon! Be careful!" He shouted before carrying me deeper into the forest.  
  
"Motimon, that must be his partner Digimon! That means, I'm the only one without one, or should I say, with a defective one." Izzy ran thirty or so feet before setting me back down.  
  
"I have to go back and make sure Motimon's okay, but you'll be perfectly safe here if you stay hidden in here." He motioned to a nearby tree with a huge hole at the base of the trunk. It was a tight squeeze to fit in, but it was roomer inside. I slithered in and found it rather comfortable. "If you look out at the right angle, you can see the entire clearing!" He shouted as he dashed after Motimon.  
  
"Wait! I yelled as Koushiro took off, but he had already left. "What about your safety? . . ."  
  
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ 


	2. A New Face

Notes about this series (Replaced): It may start out with Mimi's POV, but it only stays that way for the first few chapters, to get the story going. After that, it switches to third person. Also, character relations and the "romance" part of this story don't appear immediately, since it takes time for relationships to develop, but they will, just stick with the story until then. ~_^  
  
Chapter One: A New Face  
  
I'm sure you know how Digimon, season one began. These seven kids get sucked into a strange, new world and meet their partner monsters called Digimon. From there, they have some exciting and dangerous adventures, meet a new team member, and repeatedly save the Digital and real worlds.  
  
Well, isn't that just peachy. But, the real story is nothing like that. The concept is the same, and the characters are the same . . . well, all except for one. I guess the guys who made the TV show thought that the team had one too many "brains" but no ditzy kids, so they cut me out. As in, I, according to them, never existed. Instead, they replaced me with that idiot, Mimi. Sure, we may share the same name, but that's it. If I sound bitter, it's because I don't like being replaced.  
  
Then again, it's probably a good thing that they cut me out, because the person that I am just would never work on a kids' show. That must sound strange, since the Digi-destined on the show are all in 5th or 6th grade, but that is just an illusion. When we were sent to the Digital world, we were all in high school (excluding Takeru). But of course, you can't expose little children to the "mature" world of teenagers, can you? So, the writers changed our ages, and our maturity level. They cut out all of the TV-14 stuff, which is probably for the best; I wouldn't want my private moments broadcast all over the world.  
  
Plus, I completely screwed up the show's main archetype: darkness is evil. It's a running metaphor during the seasons, and I did everything I could in my power to contradict it; a little something that the undeveloped minds of an elementary student can't comprehend. If you can't either, well, I apologize in advance for your ignorance.  
  
So, you want to know the real story? Well, enter with an open mind; you will be surprised.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
It did start at summer camp; at least they got that part correct. My parents had figured that I needed to get out of the house, meet some new kids, and hopefully get some fresh air. I couldn't see much logic in this; I liked staying inside just fine, I never met anyone decent at camp, and I daily got fresh air during my early morning jog (I had to keep in shape for the next season of cross country). All the same, they still forced me to go. Now, I'm very glad that they did.  
  
My parents dropped me off at a bus stop in the center of town, kissed my forehead, and waved good-bye to me as they drove away. I rolled my eyes and sat down on the bench. I had 3 packages with me: my sleeping bag, my large duffle bag with my clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, and other assorted necessities, and my backpack. As always, I put off packing my duffle bag until the night before, and so my parents insisted on packing for me so I wouldn't stay up late doing it.  
  
I had no idea what clothes they had put in it, so I lifted the duffle bag onto the bench beside me and opened it. I almost screamed in dismay once I saw what was inside. I had my soap, combs, hair-ties, etc. in there as I had expected, but my parents had only packed me dresses to wear. I grabbed my hair in frustration; didn't they know how unpractical dresses are? There was a folded up note lying on top of them, so I reluctantly opened it.  
  
Dear Mimi,  
  
I went on a shopping trip this weekend and saw these in a store window and just couldn't resist buying them! They're very stylish, and since they're dark blue, purple, and black you won't have to worry about standing out too much at camp. I think I may have accidentally shrunk them when I washed them initially, but I'm sure you can manage. I know dresses aren't your favorite thing to wear, but you'll grow to love them, just as much as I love you.  
  
-Mom  
  
I nearly ripped the note in two from frustration. I had no choice but to wear them since I couldn't wear the clothes I had on for two weeks; the kids at camp would start to wonder. At least she had included my running shoes and athletic socks, and they did match surprisingly well with the dresses. I angrily zipped my duffle bag back up and roughly dropped it onto the sidewalk beside me.  
  
"At least," I thought, "I have my backpack." I had included in it everything that I needed to survive two weeks of possible misery in the middle of nowhere. Inside were my CD player and a case of 10 CDs, mini- speakers (for the rare event that someone else wanted to also listen to my music), 8 extra batteries, my sketchbook, several art pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, an extra brush, a comb, about $50, a small variety of snacks, a water bottle, lip gloss, scrunchies, nail clippers and file, a 3- ring binder with college-ruled paper inside, and an "emergency kit" I had pulled together. It had scissors, tape, a mini-stapler, string, thread and a needle, and a few other things. I pulled out my CD player and placed in a CD of spine-tingling, but soothing, melody. I could feel my lips involuntarily mouthing the hypnotic words to the song as the bus pulled up. I zipped up my backpack, threw it across my shoulders, and picked up my duffle bag in one hand, my sleeping bag in the other. I was fortunate that my parents had supplied me with a compact, lightweight sleeping bag that could easily fit into a drawstring bag the size of a basketball.  
  
I climbed the steep steps up into the bus and could feel a whoosh of air and the bus door slid shut behind me. I looked down the long aisle and could tell instantly that I was the last person to get on because there were two people in every seat save one. Seeing that I had no choice I strode past rows of gossiping high schoolers to the middle of the bus and stood in front of the only available seat. Sitting nonchalantly in the seat was a rather short, red-haired boy who was enveloped in the laptop that he was typing on. He was so caught up in his work that he didn't even notice that I was standing there until I cleared my throat and tapped him on the shoulder.  
  
"Excuse me," I interrupted, "may I sit here?" The boy hesitated slightly; perhaps he was taken aback by the fact that someone wanted to share a seat with him; he was obviously the reserved type, as I can sometimes be. He moved over slightly and took his backpack off of the seat so I could sit down. I pushed my sleeping and duffle bags under the seat, but kept my backpack on my lap. The bus started again, and we were off.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The kids on the bus grew increasingly louder as we traveled farther and farther from home and closer to camp. It was supposed to be somewhere in the mountains, away from towns and cities. That was a relief to me; I like to have solitary time where I don't feel crowded. This is hard to come by back home since I share an apartment with my mom, dad, and little sister.  
  
I gradually turned the volume up on my CD player in hopes of trying to drown out the obnoxious voices on the bus, but found that it hurt my ears too much. Instead, I looked over the shoulder of the boy sitting next to me at his computer screen. It looked like he was creating new computer software or something because the screen was littered with numbers and computer commands. I turned down my CD player's volume slightly and moved the headphone away from my ears.  
  
"What kind of program are you creating?" I asked, casually. I was getting bored since it's difficult to write or draw on a moving, jostling vehicle.  
  
"Oh," he replied, "It's actually not my program. My school's library system shut down due to a malfunction in the call number quadrant of the network, so they asked me to fix it over the summer. I would have finished much sooner if it wasn't for the primitive software that the network is based on." I nodded, but couldn't think of a response, so I turned the CD player's volume back up and leaned into my seat, hypnotized by the tune floating into my ears.  
  
A few hours later the bus finally pulled to a stop. The last ten miles had been slow and uncomfortable since we had to drive down a dirt road. The boy next to me eventually had to close his laptop because the ride made it too bumpy to type.  
  
We all stood up as the bus screeched to a rather abrupt stop, eager to get off of the vehicle. As we walked out of the bus door, I stopped and turned to the red-haired boy I had sat next to.  
  
"Oh, I don't think I ever caught your name, mine's Mimi," I told him. I figured it would be useful to at least know one person at camp.  
  
"Mine's Koushiro" he replied with a nod, and we walked off on separate paths to the girls' and boys' sides of camp.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
By the time everyone had gotten settled in their cabins it was already 8:30. We were all called down to a mandatory dinner at the mess hall: a cramped log building that could barely fit all of the campers and councilors. We had an unsubstantial dinner of sandwiches and store-bought cookies for dessert, and a 45 minute talk that basically stated that those of us who had driven to camp couldn't leave or take anyone with them without notifying a councilor first. We also we were not to stray more than 5 miles from camp without a buddy, and with a buddy no more than 10, computers, cell phones, and other complicated electronics (excluding CD players) were not to be used, and that we weren't supposed to let boys in the girls' cabins or vice-versa. I suppressed a chuckle about the last rule since it was a well-known fact that the regulation was frequently broken.  
  
I had stupidly forgotten to bring a flashlight with me to the mess hall, so I ended up tripping at least 10 times before making it back to my cabin. I had wisely chosen the bottom bunk closest to the door so I could easily slip in and out of the cabin every morning to go for a jog. My clothes were completely covered in dirt from tripping so many times, and my parents had stupidly forgotten to pack me pajamas, so I changed into the black dress that my mom had bought. To tell the truth, it really wasn't all that bad of a dress; it was slightly tight, but that actually ended up flattering my best physical qualities. However, I did notice that it was all the way to my ankles, a bit too long for my taste.  
  
"Good thing I brought a needle and thread," I mumbled as I climbed into my sleeping bag and let my heavy eyelids droop.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
I awoke to the faint sound of my CD player. I had set it on a timer so that it could serve as an alarm. I never liked the abrupt, blasting din of a watch or clock alarm since it jolted me from my sleep unnaturally. It would make for quite a crappy way to start a day. I silently flipped the cover off of my sleeping bag and sat up, careful not to bonk my head on the bunk above me. I fumbled for my socks and running shoes in the soft morning light and put them on. I was about to head out the door when I stopped short with a startling thought. The other girls in my cabin already think of me as a weirdo, so they might start nosing through the stuff in my backpack! I loathe even the thought of someone invading my privacy, and I have some rather personal sketches and stories in my backpack, so I picked it up and threw in on my shoulders. Jogging with a heavy backpack on was going to be hell, but I figured it was worth it just to keep the nasty girls in my cabin from going through my stuff.  
  
There was a surprising bitter chill in the morning air; in this area of the mountains it's never below 60 in the summer, even at six in the morning. I adjusted the headphones on my head and started jogging along the path towards the center area with my backpack bouncing behind me. I closed my eyes and sucked in a lungful of thin air. It stung my chest, but it was refreshing.  
  
I opened my eyes just in time to crash into another camper who was groggily walking the opposite way. We both yelled in pain and we fell to the ground in a heap.  
  
"Owwww," I moaned as I struggled up. I heard several footsteps as I stood up. The boy I had collided with looked to be about my age, probably older, was fairly tall, and had messy, blonde hair. A little kid, no older than six, was helping him up, asking if he was ok. I assumed that they were brothers; the resemblance was uncanny.  
  
"I'm sorry," I apologized, "I probably should have been watching the path while I jogged." The boy shook his head.  
  
"It's fine; I probably should have been watching too."  
  
"Yamato was just coming back from a girl's cabin!" his brother proudly stated.  
  
"Takeru, shut up!" Yamato hissed at his brother as his face started to turn scarlet. I chuckled at the look on his face.  
  
"Really," I assured him, "I won't tell. It's really not my business, and I'm not supposed to be up this early anyways, so that would just get me in trouble too." Yamato looked relieved until a dark-haired upperclassman strode over.  
  
"What are you two doing up so early?" he demanded, and then turned to Yamato. "Although, it's quite obvious what you were doing." Yamato shoved him aside.  
  
"Oh, please, like you have the authority to boss me around. Being a senior only makes you an assistant councilor, and besides Jou, I could beat you up in a heart beat." I could feel the hair on my arms start to stick up and form goosebumps from a sudden blast of cold air. I kinda wished that I had grabbed a wind jacket or something, but I had doubted that I would need one since I rarely ever get cold.  
  
Another blast of cold air drove us to the side of a near-by cabin for shelter from the winder. Another boy was standing there. His hair was hilariously wild and he wore a pair of goggles as if they were a headband or something.  
  
"Hey," he shivered, "is the mess tent open yet?" Jou shook his head. "Damn," the other boy whispered under his breath.  
  
I felt something tickle my nose so I reached my finger up to brush it off, but all I felt was a drop of water. I looked up at the crimson sky and could barely believe my eyes. Dancing like fairies on the wind were large, fluffy, snowflakes. Just as they began to settle on the ground, the wind let forth another blast of cold air, nearly knocking us off of our feet.  
  
"Let's get inside, and we can settle this there!" Jou commanded as he opened the cabin door. We all rushed inside, surprised that the lights were already on. Sitting in the middle of the room were the boy I had met on the bus, Koushiro, who was typing away at his laptop, and an orange- haired girl who was lying down on a bench nearby trying to get some sleep. Jou was flabbergasted.  
  
"Aaah!" he shouted. "Don't you know that this cabin is off-limits to campers until 9 A.M.? And you," he pointed at Koushiro. "Computers are not allowed here!" I sat down on a bench and shook my head.  
  
"This camp should be re-named 'Rules-are-meant-to-be-broken-camp," because obviously no one ever abides by them." I muttered, but I doubt that anyone heard me. Jou was meanwhile running around in circles, telling everyone why what they had done broke the rules.  
  
"But my cabin's pipes leak right above my bunk," the girl Jou was yelling at stated. "How am I supposed to try and get any rest on a sopping wet mattress?" Finally, Yamato punched Jou right in the jaw, and he slumped to the ground. Yamato shrugged.  
  
"What? He was getting on my nerves." We sat awkwardly in silence for a few moments until Takeru finally stood up on his short little legs and paraded to the door.  
  
"I want to know if it stopped being windy," he explained as he opened the door. It was almost blown off of its hinges by the wind and several chunks of snow were blown into the cabin. Yamato jumped up and slammed the door shut.  
  
"Takeru," he instructed, "never do that again, ok?" Takeru nodded.  
  
We sat in silence for a while longer until the goggle-headed boy asked "So, since it looks like we'll be stuck here for a while, what's everyone's name? Mine's Taichi."  
  
"Mimi"  
  
"Koushiro"  
  
"Takeru"  
  
"Sora"  
  
"Yamato, and the one knocked out cold is Jou. Jeez, that guy really needs to loosen up every once in a while." We were an interesting little gaggle of students, all uncomfortably sitting in the cold, trapped in a dimly lit cabin. I put my headphones back on and pulled out my sketchbook. Koushiro's concentrated face was so intriguing that I couldn't help but capture it on paper. I felt strangely attached to him, to everyone, as if we had all met before. I brushed it off, thinking that it was probably just some stray hormones that the camp seemed saturated with.  
  
After 10 or so minutes, the other students in the cabin began to grow restless, especially Takeru. He started skipping around the cabin, humming some happy tune of his own composition. Taichi and Yamato even started a light conversation, and Jou started to come around. I just kept sketching, my pencil scraping rhythmically to the beat of the song I was listening to. Koushiro's picture was really turning out well and I even debated whether or not to show it to him once I was done.  
  
Another 10 minutes passed, and the wind finally died down. Taichi got up and cautiously creaked the door open. The air was still, so I packed up my sketchbook and pencils and stepped outside. The ground was blanketed with a layer of snow that shimmered a pale orange just like the eastern sky. In a word, it was drop-dead gorgeous. We all stepped outside into the foot or so of snow to admire our surroundings. Takeru was staring at the sky with a look of bewilderment on his little face. He tugged on Yamato's pant leg.  
  
"Onii-chan," he whispered shyly, "why is the sky green?" He pointed up at a mass of swirling color. My mouth gaped in astonishment. It was like the sky had turned into a green whirlpool of color. Several spots of light appeared from the green mass and shot down from the sky to the snow at our feet. I jumped back in shock, but couldn't help but to lean forward and examine the shining objects. As the one closest to me started to float back up to the sky my hand involuntarily shot forward and caught it in mid-air. I cautiously opened my palm and examined the object. It fit snuggly in my hand as if it had been molded to fit my fingers perfectly. There was a blank screen and a few buttons on the front; overall it looked like a Tamagachi toy or something. Everyone else looked as perplexed as me as they held identical devices in their hands.  
  
"How eerie," I muttered under my breath. Suddenly, the wind blew up from the stillness and began to push, or should I say pull, Taichi up towards the sky. He yelped in surprise as his feet slowly lifted off of the ground. I started to back away in fear but found that I was starting to float upwards as well. As I frantically looked around I realized that all seven of us were being sucked up into the mass of swirling color. I began to mutter senselessly "this can't be happening; dammit, this isn't real!" as we were started to fall up into the sky. The last words I heard before blacking out were from Koushiro's mouth, "it's real all right, it's real."  
  
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ 


	3. And It Begins

Chapter Two: And It Begins . . .  
  
I slowly pried my eyes open and pushed myself off of the ground. My head pulsed with pain and my vision was slightly blurred, but other than that I was all right; I had no broken bones, cuts, scrapes, or even bruises. Considering that I had just fallen into the sky, I was slightly surprised at my good condition, but very relieved.  
  
The air was still and warm around me. I breathed in a lungful of moist, tropical air. That's when I snapped back to reality. Just a few moments (or what I thought were a few moments) ago, I was standing ankle-deep in snow in the middle of the mountains, but now, I appeared to be in the middle of a thick forest. The only thing that proved that I had ever been at camp was my backpack lying at my feet.  
  
I stood up in shock and fear. Where was everyone else? Was I the only one lost in this strange place?  
  
"Koushiro? Yamato! Is anyone there?" I yelled at the trees. I stood very still, waiting for reply, but all I could hear were the rustle of leaves in the trees and the loud humming of insects. A tear trickled down my right cheek and I quickly brushed it away even though I knew I was alone.  
  
"You're here!" a cheery, high-pitched voice rang out. I looked up.  
  
"Takeru!" I shouted joyfully. "Takeru, is that you?" A shiny, bight-blue sphere bounced into my arms from the shadows of the forest. I was so startled that I dropped it and stumbled backward. It ricocheted off of the forest floor and back into my lap.  
  
"I'm not a Takeru, I'm a Katamon! And I'll be your partner!" Katamon reminded me of a blue balloon with a tadpole-like tail and two wide, inquisitive eyes. Although this thing's size was quite impressive, it was her eyes that mystified me most. When I looked into her saucer-like eyes, I could feel time itself slow down. My muscles relaxed and I slumped back against a near-by tree. My heart gradually stopped beating and my lungs lay limp in my chest. I frantically tried to move, even twitch an eyelid, but found that I was completely paralyzed. I could feel my body start to deteriorate and shut down from lack of oxygen. The world around me grew fuzzy and dark as my back slipped from the tree trunk and I collapsed to the ground. Just before my brain gave way to darkness, I heard a high voice whisper "Oh no, I've done it again . . ."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Slowly, I started to regain my senses. Even though I was lying down, I felt very dizzy. Someone was panting hard and cursing nearby. I strained to open my eyes, but could only flutter them a little. I started breathing shallowly and I heard a sigh of relief. A gentle hand softly shook my shoulder.  
  
"Mimi?" A familiar voice asked. "Are you awake?" Gathering my strength I nodded my head, just slightly. I tried opening my eyes again. It took me a moment to focus, but when I did I saw Jou leaning over me with a concerned expression on his face. I struggled to get up at the sight of him, but he held  
  
me down. "Don't get up just yet; you were unconscious after all. How do you feel?" I took in a deep breath before speaking.  
  
"Rather crappy. Did you see what happened?" Jou shook his head.  
  
"I found you like this. Well, actually, it was really Bukamon who you should thank. He spotted you first; I suppose I was too freaked out from meeting him to notice you. Say hi, Bukamon!" Out from behind a bush popped a grey, floating creature with flippers and orange hair. He reminded me of a Plesiosaurus, a very small Plesiosaurus.  
  
"I'm Bukamon, Jou's partner Digimon!" He chirped. I tried to slink away from the creature that seemed similar to the one that attacked me, but I didn't have the strength.  
  
"What, what's a partner Digimon?" I asked Jou, not taking my eyes off of the creature.  
  
"Well, apparently, Digimon is an abbreviation for 'digital monster,' and Bukamon is supposed to be my companion or partner, I guess."  
  
"Why of course I am!" Bukamon replied, slightly insulted. "Every human who comes here has a partner!" He turned to me. "So, where's your partner Digimon?" My shoulders fell and glanced to the side.  
  
"I must not have one since I haven't seen any other monsters except-" my voice trailed off as my memory brought my thoughts back to the strange Digimon that had attacked me. She had said that she was supposed to be my partner, could that mean . . . I shook my head rapidly, trying to relieve my brain of my confusion.  
  
"Um, Mimi? Are you all right?" Jou inquired, worried. "Yeah," I muttered, "I'm all right." It was obvious that Jou didn't believe me. I struggled to sit up. "We should try and find the others, but I don't think I can stand." Jou squatted down and gently scooped me up in his arms. I blinked in surprise. "You didn't have to do that." Jou blushed slightly.  
  
"Well, erm, you aren't all that heavy, and you would be rather vulnerable just lying there, virtually immobile." He reached down, put my backpack on, and stood up. Jou didn't appear to be in the best physical condition and I doubted that he would be able to walk since he was wearing my backpack as well as carrying me, but somehow he managed. He walked in silence and I started to feel my eyelids droop. I've always been rather self-conscious when it comes to being asleep in front of others, even my family, and I didn't fully trust Jou (we had only know each other for less than an hour, after all), but I could feel my brain floating in and out of consciousness.  
  
"Jou," I weakly whispered, "honestly, what were you doing while I was unconscious that made you so agitated?" Jou hesitated.  
  
"I-I was performing Circulatory Pulmonary Resuscitation. You weren't breathing, and I knew you wouldn't last long unless oxygen could reach your tissues. I'm studying for medical school, so it was a simple procedure." I couldn't help but weakly smile at his obvious discomfort. I also had a tendency to hide touchy subjects behind technical terms and complex words.  
  
When really stopped to think about someone doing CPR on me, I did feel a bit violated, but I owed Jou my life. It was already obvious to me that this incident was not going to be solved instantly, and we survivors would end up getting close before it was all over, probably closer than necessary . . .  
  
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ 


	4. You Take the High Road, and I'll Take th...

Chapter Four: You Take the High Road, and I'll Take the Low Road  
  
I shifted around in the tree trunk so I could easily see Motimon's battle. The little pink blob looked like a piece of bubblegum next to the gigantic attacking Digimon. I didn't know how Motimon could even land a punch, especially with his arms. Motimon sucked in a deep breath and blew out a cascade of large, rubbery, pink bubbles while shouting "bubble blast!" They popped lightly on the enemy Digimon's hard exoskeleton.  
  
"Why won't they run?" I whispered. "What would be gained from staying and fighting?" The little Digimon threw himself up at the giant beetle-monster, but was effortlessly tossed aside by one of the Digimon's legs. Koushiro squatted near a tree a few yards away, frantically typing away at his laptop. "What the hell is important enough to be doing on that machine at a time like this?" I chuckled nervously and joked, "he's probably typing up a will."  
  
Motimon was about to get finished off when another voice yelled out "bubble blast!" as the beetle-Digimon was pelted with more pink, rubbery bubbles. They had little impact, but they got his attention. Out from the trees stepped Tai, Sora, Yamato, Jou, and Takeru, beside them stood their Digimon. Angrily, the miniature monsters attacked the beetle with "bubble blasts" and tackles, none of which seemed to have any effect.  
  
I stared helplessly at the fight. "Why did we end up with such weak partners? At least one of them should be able to make at least a dent!" Tears of frustration and helplessness formed at the corners of my eyes as each of our partner Digimon were knocked to the ground. Suddenly, the trees were filled with a brilliant blast of light, and standing where our partner Digimon had been were six new monsters. "Could they be . . . the same Digimon? They have to be, but they look so different!" At that, they threw themselves at the beetle and shot attack after attack at it. These Digimon proved to be significantly stronger than before and together they destroyed the monster. At least, I thought they destroyed it; it burst into a million pieces and disappeared. I cautiously stuck my head out of the tree and looked around before crawling out.  
  
Taichi stepped forward, obviously nervous, and asked, in a loud and clear voice, "are you our Digimon? If not, I demand to know what you did with them." One of the seven, a yellowish tyrannosaurus-looking Digimon leaped forward, hugging Taichi's legs.  
  
"What kind of question is that? Of course we are! We just evolved for the first time; aren't you proud?" Taichi smiled bravely, but I could see his left eye twitching slightly. I chuckled at his expression only to sober up at the sight of a blue sphere staring out from behind a tree. My eyes widened and I shrunk back, but it was gone. I shivered softly as I breathed a sigh of relief. Katamon may have just looked like an over-sized tadpole, but I was still terrified of her, nonetheless.  
  
The others gathered around the group of Digimon, trying to sort out their names and who they belonged to. No one knew what to feel: relieved, scared, curious, or cautious. This was a dangerous place, and we needed to stay on our toes. At least we had added protection, what with our new partners and all.  
  
"Hello! A little help over here," I called to the group as I half- crawled, half-slithered across the ground. Koushiro glanced over and blushed.  
  
"Sorry, we sincerely didn't mean to forget about you," he apologized as he walked over. He helped me to stand and, using his shoulder for support, I walked over to the others. We sat on the leaf-littered ground. The silence was unbearable, so I spoke up.  
  
"So what do we do now?"  
  
"It would appear," answered Jou, "that our main objective would be finding a way home."  
  
"Yeah, well you may not have noticed, but we kinda fell from the sky," Yamato snapped, "and unless you have an extra-large trampoline with you, we're gonna have one hell of a time getting back up there!"  
  
"But," Sora added, "considering that's not possible, at least, I don't think, we'll just have to find another way. Maybe find a pay-phone to call home."  
  
Koushiro shook his head. "There isn't a village, or even a house for that matter, for miles. Besides, if we are stranded in some foreign country, the chance of finding a pay-phone that uses Japanese coins or calling cards is slim."  
  
"We could split up and look," Taichi suggested half-heartedly. "I know it would be extremely dangerous, but we would cover much more ground, even in just a day or so."  
  
"You mean we might have to spend the night here?" Takeru whimpered, clinging to his brother's pant-leg. "Onii-chan, I-I, I miss Mom!" He started to wail uncontrollably. Yamato squatted down and looked him in the eye.  
  
"Takeru, listen to me. You have to be brave about this, even if we have to stay a night. Nothing will happen to you, I promise." Takeru stopped wailing, but still sniffled a little. "If we split up," Yamato told us, "Takeru and I stick together."  
  
"Agreed," Taichi stated. "The safest route would probably be dividing into only two groups, for extra protection in case another Digimon attacks."  
  
"I'd suggest Yamato, Takeru, Koushiro, and Mimi as a group, only because they seem to hit it off so well," Jou commented distastefully. Yamato just glared at him.  
  
"Good plan, splitting those two up," Taichi mumbled. "So then, it's just myself, Sora and Jou. If you guys follow the river and see where it leads, we'll head towards that mountain; maybe we could get a better view of the area." I was rather taken aback at how quickly Taichi had assumed command, but he did seem to know what he was doing. At least, he wasn't as hesitant as the rest of us.  
  
"So, meet back here in, like, two days?" Yamato asked Taichi. "That gives us the rest of today and tomorrow to scout things out, and the day after to get back here. Are we all in agreement about that?" We all nodded, with the exception of Koushiro, who was busily typing away at his laptop.  
  
Without even looking up he asked, "could someone hand me their handheld device?" Taichi reached into his pocket and pulled out the grey thing that had fell from the sky earlier this morning."  
  
"You mean this thing?" he wondered out-loud as he handed it to Koushiro who took it and pushed a few buttons, grinning. Taichi just stared at him and asked, "So, what's so great about this piece of junk?" Koushiro looked up at him is disbelief.  
  
"This is no 'piece of junk!' The design is quite complex and appears to have a variety of uses. Best of all, if I upload a few features . . ." his voice drifted off into a murmur as he continued to type. Stunned, we all watched in silence and a few moments later, Koushiro spoke again. "It would appear that these devices contain a map of the area, see?" He held out Taichi's device and on the screen was what looked like a rough topographical map. "This red dot," he continued, "is probably our location, since it is by a river, and a forest, as we are. The devices also are equipped with a wireless network-like program compatible with my laptop's. Lucky I have a USB cord to upload the program!" We fell over in disbelief. Who keeps a USB cord in his pocket? "Could I have your devices?" We handed them over, shaking our heads.  
  
"Hey," Taichi whispered to us, "have you ever seen a computer model like his? It appears to be a custom job." I nodded.  
  
"It's quite impressive, nothing like my wimpy Celeron processor," I whispered back as Koushiro handed back our devices.  
  
"That should do it. The location of your device is marked on the map by a red dot; other devices are marked by green dots. This way, we can keep basic track of each other. Just don't push any other buttons; I don't know what they do." Impressed, I put the device back in my backpack.  
  
"I suppose," Taichi said, "that we should go if we're to get anywhere today." We stood there uncomfortably for a moment, saying our goodbyes, and went our separate ways.  
  
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ 


	5. Divided We Stand

Note: Starting in this chapter, point of view changes from first person to third. Having Mimi narrate the first four chapters helped get the ball rolling, but now that the story has developed, her POV is unnecessary.  
  
Chapter Five: Divided We Stand . . .  
  
Since Mimi was still too weak to walk, she had to again be carried by Yamato, and her backpack carried by Koushiro on top of his laptop. The experience certainly humbled her a bit, especially since Yamato couldn't walk fast with her on his back. Mimi tried to apologize for the inconvenience, but Yamato just told her that if it weren't for her, Takeru would be slowing them down anyway. Takeru stuck his tongue out at this comment, and Mimi couldn't help but chuckle at the funny expression on his little face. Other than that, they walked in nearly complete silence, Yamato and his brother sometimes exchanging comments. The scenery never seemed to change; it was as if they walked along the same stretch of river over and over.  
  
Yamato could only think of how his brother must be holding up. He couldn't comfort Takeru by telling him that this was all just a bad dream; everything was too real, everyone acted so rationally and normally, and unlike the scattered, disorganized events in dreams, everything that had happened up to that point did make some sense. "Takeru may be young," Yamato told himself, "but he's not that gullible."  
  
Mimi was too busy trying to stay awake and alert to really think things through. Her brain kept telling her "please, sleep, and let your body heal itself. That is what you want, is it not? You want the strength to walk on your own again, so sleep and recover."  
  
"Just a few more hours," Mimi kept telling herself. "I'll rest when the others set up camp; I can make it until then." However, this was one argument that Mimi could not win, and within minutes, she was asleep.  
  
Koushiro, on the other hand, was wide-awake and trying to decipher all the goings on into a logical explanation. He sorted through his memories so that once they did stop for the night, he could get right to writing a journal about their adventure so far. He just couldn't believe the incredible opportunity in front of the seven of them, and he knew that their first objective was to get home, so he had little time to waste.  
  
Except for a few small Digimon peeking out of the trees and water, no one disturbed the group. Which, of course, was very fortunate since everyone's mind was on something else, leaving them wide open for attack. They took occasional water breaks, every half-hour or so, but then continued on. About two hours before sunset, Yamato pointed out a concave dent in the cliffs on the other side of the river. After some brief discussion, Koushiro and Yamato decided it would be a decent spot to sleep, as they were partially protected. The river was wide, but the current was slow and smooth boulders jetted out in the middle, so crossing wasn't too difficult. Mimi had woken up by then, so she was able to cross mostly on her own.  
  
The four of them shared a meager dinner on the beach alongside the river. When they finished, Takeru asked if he could have more. Reluctantly, Mimi reclined, saying that the leftover food needed to last through tomorrow, at least.  
  
"But I'm still hungry," he moaned.  
  
Yamato thought for a moment, then asked his brother "why don't we go looking for more food? It will be like a scavenger hunt to find nuts and berries, ok?" Takeru brightened at this and Yamato leaned toward Koushiro, who was obviously unsure of Yamato's decision, and whispered "don't worry, we won't eat any old berry we find, and we'll stay close to the campground; this is just to distract Takeru." With that, they started off into the forest, their Digimon loyally following behind.  
  
With that, Mimi felt a wave of jealousy and sadness that she did not have Digimon like that. She crawled over to her backpack and pulled out her CD player and headphones and her sketchbook. She turned up the volume as if drown out reality and set to sketching an unusual, tropical-looking flower a few feet away. Mimi found herself concentrating so hard on her drawing subject that she did not even notice when Koushiro walked over and sat down next to her, observing her work. After a good fifteen minutes, he finally placed his hands on her headphones and slid them off, telling her gently "that's a beautiful picture you have there." Mimi nearly screamed in surprise, but seeing it was only Koushiro, she slammed the sketchbook shut.  
  
"H-how long have you been there?" she stammered, removing her headphones. Koushiro shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Not too long, but long enough to see that you have real talent." Mimi glanced down.  
  
"It's, it's really not that good. Just something to distract me from this madness, I suppose." She laughed weakly and clutched the sketchbook tightly to her chest. "So, have you discovered anything new about our device-thingies?" she asked, vainly trying to divert attention away from her drawing. Koushiro realized this, but pretended otherwise.  
  
"I haven't made much progress yet, but my theory about the red and green dots is correct, see?" He pulled out his device and sure enough, three green and one red dot marked our location, and three green dots marked where the others' were. Mimi stared at it for a moment, and then unzipped her backpack and withdrew her device.  
  
"What do you suppose this blue dot is, in the river?" She asked Koushiro, pointing to a glowing blue speck on her device map.  
  
"I don't know; it doesn't appear to be on mine. I wouldn't worry; I'm thinking it's just a glitch or something unimportant." He paused for a moment and then asked quietly, "Why do you suppose you don't have a Digimon? You have a device after all, like the rest of us."  
  
Mimi closed her eyes as she felt small teardrops form. She put her headphones back on and tried to think of an answer that would satisfy both Koushiro and herself, but the only words she could make pass her lips were "I don't know."  
  
Not knowing what to say in response, Koushiro quietly stood and walked over to a rock on another part of the beach and sat down, resting his back against the rock's cool, smooth side. "Why is she so sensitive about the topic of her Digimon? Is there something she isn't telling us?" He chuckled softly, "Of course, we've only known each other for a few hours; why would she reveal everything to me anyway?" He opened up his laptop and began typing the events of the day into his journal. Tentomon scurried up to him.  
  
"Something wrong?" He asked in a rather mechanical voice. Koushiro stopped typing long enough to glance over at his Digimon before returning to his writing.  
  
"Tentomon, did you know the others' Digimon before today?"  
  
"Certainly," he replied. "We waited for the arrival of the chosen ones together. We helped guard each other from aggressive Digimon and find hiding spots from those too strong for us to fight. Why?" Koushiro turned towards his Digimon.  
  
"What about Mimi's Digimon?" Tentomon cocked his head slightly.  
  
"She was there too. A bit more stand-offish though, particularly after the accident."  
  
"Accident?"  
  
"We all had a little trouble when were first learned our bubble blast attack, accidentally hitting each other when we sneezed and the likes. Katamon had a similar problem." Seeing that Tentomon wouldn't reveal anything else, Koushiro returned to his work.  
  
Soon after, Takeru and Yamato returned to camp, surprisingly, with a handful of berries each. They were yellowish and bitter, but edible.  
  
The sky darkened soon after and the air grew cold. No one had any means to start a fire, and being just acquaintances they felt uncomfortable using each other to keep warm, so they ripped some fern leafs off of a nearby plant and used them as crude blankets. As tiring as the day's events had been, they had difficulty falling asleep, or even shutting their eyes. Eventually, exhaustion won over and the group was asleep.  
  
However, Yamato couldn't stay asleep. About four hours before sunrise, he realized how vulnerable they really were just lying there in plain sight.  
  
"Damn," he muttered as he pushed himself into a sitting position, "we should have chosen a sentry or something." Seeing the others sound asleep he rolled his eyes. "Looks like I just volunteered myself for that position."  
  
The quiet still of the riverbank was starting to creep Yamato out, so he reached into his pocket to pull out the key chain flashlight that he had used to maneuver around back at the camp. It was pretty useless for most tasks, considering its size, but it was perfect for detail work, such as reading or opening doorknobs. Yamato played with the on/off button for a little while, flickering the mini flashlight to the beat of a song he had been working on back home, but he soon grew tired of this and scanned the area for some other form of diversion.  
  
His eyes finally rested on Mimi's backpack. "No," he told himself, "I shouldn't." He glanced over at Mimi, who was sleeping quite soundly, then back at the backpack. "It looks pretty full; there should be something of interest inside it. Besides, it'll be like payment for carrying her around all day." Trying to erase his guilt with pointless excuses, he crawled along the sandy ground to where the backpack sat a few feet away from Mimi's head. He slowly unzipped the largest pocket, nervously glancing over at Mimi's still head periodically. He finally managed to open the zipper wide enough to pull out its contents, and leaning over it began to shift through the assorted belongings inside it. His finger's fell upon the surface of spiral notebook. Strangely, its surface felt rough and bumpy across his fingertips. Intrigued by this abnormal notebook cover, he gently slid the notebook out of Mimi's backpack and slinked over to his resting rock with it.  
  
Yamato turned the rough blue plastic notebook cover over, revealing the first page. Nothing. It was completely blank. He turned to the next page, and the next. Nothing but blank pages. Yamato sighed in frustration. "I go through all the trouble of getting this thing; what a disappointment." Annoyed, he quickly flipped though the remaining 200 or so pages with his thumb. Blank. Blank. Blank. And then he saw a page with writing on it. He flipped ahead a few pages and saw that they too had writing on them. "How bizarre; she started writing in the middle of the notebook. Wonder why." Yamato began reading the words on the page. It was done in pencil, but nothing on the page had been erased or crossed out. The words flowed in a way that had obviously not been planned out, but they still sang softly in a soft voice. The words formed a story. It began rather sweetly: a boy and a girl meeting, becoming friends, and slowly falling in love. Yamato rolled his eyes. "Girls," he murmured, "love's all they ever think about." All the same, he continued reading. However, he sensed a drastic change in tone at about the seventh page. The romantic, innocent voice that the story had started with disappeared, replaced by rather edgy-feeling narration. Intrigued by this new mood the story portrayed, Yamato read on, more carefully now. "After a slightly awkward dinner scene, the girl and her boyfriend went on a drive along a quiet road beside an empty wood. They got out of the car and sat down in a grassy clearing on a hill, overlooking the moon as it slowly rose above the eastern horizon.  
  
"The boy leaned over and wrapped his arm around the girl's waist like he always did, gazing into her eyes, but he could feel her muscles tighten under his arm and she looked away.  
  
" 'I-I think we should start seeing other people,' she told him, her voice barely above a whisper. His smile disappeared, replaced by a look of confusion and protest. 'I don't think this will work out, and so I'm breaking up with you.'  
  
The boy's eyes narrowed in hatred as his confusion was replaced by blunt anger. 'You're dumping me? After seven months? Haven't I been good to you?' The girl, still staring at the ground, slipped out of his embrace and slid a foot away from him.  
  
" 'I'm sorry,' she murmured.  
  
" 'Sorry? SORRY?' the boy yelled. 'Dammit, what more do you want from me? So that's it, just 'good-bye' and we're through?'  
  
" 'I suppose so.' The girl had to force the words out of her mouth as a lump began to form in her throat, blocking out all sound. The boy shook for a moment and then violently pushed the girl to the ground.  
  
" 'Like hell we are!' he hissed. Frightened, the girl tried to sit up, but the boy pinned her shoulders to the ground with his hands. He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth, only to have the girl push him back.  
  
" 'Let go of me!' She wailed. 'Take me home!' She freed one arm and slapped the boy squarely on the cheek. Temporarily dazed he lifted his hand to the red mark on his face, gritting his teeth.  
  
" 'You'll regret that,' he smirked, and removing his hand from his injured cheek, he yanked at the collar of her shirt, breaking off the top button on her blouse."  
  
Yamato's eyes widened as he continued reading the story. He was absolutely stunned and surprised that Mimi had written such a painful story.  
  
"It's so emotional, almost like it was written from personal experience. But," he glanced over at where she lay, "that couldn't be right." The story stopped rather abruptly, in mid-sentence, and Yamato had to squint to try and read the last few words as they were smeared. The paper had obviously been wet at one time as the blue lines bled into the white and the paper was wrinkled in spots, a sign of water damage. Scribbled at the bottom of the page was another paragraph.  
  
"I hate boys. I hate them I hate them I HATE THEM! I hate them for their centuries of crime against us, the pain they've forced upon us, the way they shamelessly give themselves authority to control us. Who died and gave THEM the liberty to decide that they should be superior to us? I hate the way they pour shame on us like melted butter, denying us of even a glimmer of hope that maybe one of us will be saved from their ruthless abuse. They all must be punished for centuries of suffering, every last one. They think that equality has finally been reached; thank us, women! We have given you equality! You call this equality? Damn moron will never have any clue as to what we have put up with all of our lives. Screw them! Oh no wait . . . that's just what they want . . . bastards"  
  
Yamato just stared blankly at the tear-streaked paragraph in disbelief.  
  
"Is that how she sees us?" He looked over to where she lay again. "She didn't act this way around us, so why . . ." he numbly dropped the notebook to the ground and just sat, trying to comprehend the messy words on the page. "I guess," he mumbled, "that everyone has a secret world, and hers just happens to start in the middle of a notebook." He stared up at the stars in the sky not hidden by wispy clouds. The only sounds were those of the water lapping up against the riverbank, and the wind occasionally brushing up against the tall river grasses. "Are we, really that way? That evil?" He let out a warm breath of air. "What happened to her?"  
  
Yamato's head drooped and he blankly picked the notebook up again and slowly flipped through the pages. There were other stories after that, but he couldn't read any more. Instead, he stumbled over to Mimi's backpack where he carefully placed the notebook back in and closed the zipper.  
  
"If a picture is worth a thousand words," he chuckled weakly, "and that was just a few hundred, I don't want to even guess what's in her sketchbook." He sat and stared at Mimi's sleeping face, her harsh words repeating themselves over and over in his mind. She seemed so calm, just lying there, very unlike the violent voice buried somewhere inside her.  
  
Yamato just wanted to sleep away the confusion, but this recent perspective set him in a zombie-like state that lasted for quite some time. Actually, he managed to stay awake until dawn at which point his mind finally gave way to sleep.  
  
~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~  
  
Author's Note: Bizarre, huh? Don't worry, there won't be too much of this again for a while; I just wanted to introduce this other side of Mimi as a precursor of future events in the story. That, and the fact that I need to rant about things occasionally, so I incorporate these feelings into the characters to make them seem more realistic (and help control my own emotional confusion and hatred). Not much really happened in this chapter (despite its incredible length), so I'll make up for that next time, 'k? ^^ PS: the more reviews I get on "Replaced," the sooner I'll finish the next chapter (the reviews work as a motivator)! 


	6. United We Fall part 1

Chapter Six: United We Fall (part 1)  
  
Takeru, acting as any other excited little kid would, was the first one up out of the group sleeping along the riverbank. And, just as any other excited little kid, he made sure that everyone else knew it. Carrying Patamon in his arms like a teddy bear, he ran over to his brother, his little feet slapping against the sandy ground.  
  
"Onii-chan! Onii-chan!" his voice rang out as he shook his brother awake. Yamato, dazed from just being woken up, moaned and rolled over, shielding his eyes from the bright morning sun. Takeru crinkled his face in frustration and shook his brother's shoulder again. "Come on, get up! It's morning and I want breakfast!" Yamato strained to open his eyes; his midnight sentry duty had deprived him of hours of sleep, and it was probably just an hour after sunrise anyway.  
  
Yamato stumbled up and sauntered over to where Koushiro lay sleeping. Tentomon, who was just a few feet away, woke up and cheerfully greeted Yamato and Takeru.  
  
"Ah, good morning!" he greeted, "you two must love mornings enough to get up at this hour, considering how tired you must be from yesterday." Yamato growled at the reminder. The first night at camp he barely slept a wink, and then he ran around looking for his brother and running from monsters, then he had to carry Mimi, and then he stayed up half the night AGAIN playing guard duty.  
  
"This is worse than cramming for high-school entrance exams," he muttered. A harsh beeping sound, slightly muffled, rang out, disturbing the relatively quiet scene. Koushiro stirred, sat up, and popped open his laptop. He punched a few keys on its keyboard and the noise stopped. Koushiro closed his laptop and looked up at the brothers.  
  
"Well, it would appear that my computer's alarm clock is operational." Yamato stared at him.  
  
"You mean, that thing has an alarm clock?" Koushiro nodded.  
  
"Granted, it wasn't a standard feature, I had to install the new parts and rewire the clock so that at a certain time, the speaker would let off a noise, regardless of the computer's condition, on or off. I'd like to run the system through the CD player as well, so that the alarm would let off a song rather than a beep. Rather annoying currently, wouldn't you say?" Yamato started to raise an eyebrow, but decided it took too much brainpower at this time of day so he didn't. Takeru tugged on his shirt.  
  
"Yamato, I'm hungry!" he reminded him. Yamato nodded in agreement.  
  
"But the only food we have is Mimi's, so I think we should wait until she wakes up and let her divide up the remaining food," Yamato told him. Takeru began to whimper in protest. Gabumon, who had wandered over to where they were standing, stepped forward a step.  
  
"I'll just go wake her then!" he told them, and he scampered over to where Mimi lay.  
  
"I wouldn't do that-" Yamato protested, but Gabumon didn't hear. He reached a yellow paw over and gently shook Mimi's shoulder. Her eyes slowly opened and looked right up at the Digimon's face. She sat straight up and let out a piercing scream. Gabumon jumped back and Mimi stood straight up.  
  
"Don't EVER do that to me again! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" she yelled, pointing a finger at the Digimon. She then fell back to the ground. "Ugh, stood up too fast." Yamato walked over and held out a hand.  
  
"You ok?" She looked up at him and all the memories of what she had written in the notebook flooded back to him. Yamato almost pulled his hand away, but stopped himself. "I can't let on any clues that I read the story; she'd kill me!" he told himself. Mimi grasped his hand and pulled herself up slowly.  
  
"What a way to wake up," she muttered, dusting dirt off of her dress. Koushiro smiled.  
  
"It would appear," he stated, walking over, "that you have gained the use of your legs again." Mimi looked at him for a moment, and suddenly remembered.  
  
"Right right, I couldn't walk at all yesterday," she replied. "Well, at least I can stand now, but they are unbelievably stiff." She took a few quick steps to test her walking capabilities and stopped short, bending down to massage her muscles. "My calves hurt like hell, though." She stumbled over to a rock and sat down, still rubbing her legs.  
  
Takeru rummaged through one of the smaller pockets of Mimi's backpack. "What's this?" he asked Mimi, as he held up slender, white plastic wrapper. Mimi's eyes widened, mortified, and she leaped towards him, snatching the tampon from his grasp and stuffed it in her backpack.  
  
"It's nothing, absolutely nothing!" she stammered in embarrassment. "Don't go through my backpack ever again!" Koushiro started chuckling, and then unable to hold it in, burst out laughing. Yamato looked around, searching for the source of the joke.  
  
"What, what? I missed something; what is so funny?" he demanded of Koushiro, who upon seeing Mimi's harsh glare told him that it was nothing. Yamato scowled in frustration and stomped over to his brother, who appeared to be on the verge of tears.  
  
"I-I was just trying to look for food," he sniffled. Yamato ruffled his hair to comfort him. Mimi pulled out a packet of chocolate pocky and opened it. She handed Takeru a stick.  
  
"I'm afraid that we'll have to split this for breakfast. She divided up the sticks and handed one to everyone, including the Digimon who gobbled it up in a flash. The remaining pieces she placed back in the package and stuck in her backpack. "Lunch" she muttered to herself.  
  
"Well," Koushiro brushed himself off as he stood from breakfast, "now's as good a time to leave as any. Everyone ready?"  
  
"I suppose," Mimi picked up her backpack and handed it to Yamato. "If you don't mind?" Grumbling a little, but only a little, he slung the backpack over his shoulders and they were off.  
  
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The first hour or so of walking proved uncomfortably uneventful. Meaningful conversation was virtually nonexistent, as no one could come up with an appropriate topic that they thought the others would find interesting. The scenery never seemed to change, adding to the dull nature of the situation.  
  
"Why isn't Mimi talking?" Yamato wondered. "Yesterday she seemed sociable enough. Could it be, that she knows that I read her journal? Or maybe that-oh I don't know!" He glanced over at Koushiro. "I'm not too surprised he's staying silent; except when the topic strays to computers, that guy keeps his mouth shut. Is that all he ever thinks about?"  
  
Ironically, at that moment, computers were the topic furthest from Koushiro's mind.  
  
"Jeez my back hurts from sleeping on the beach," Koushiro complained to himself. "I've never really minded being outdoors, but the terrain! I miss my own bed." He quickly glanced over at the others, silently staring ahead as they walked along. "I wonder how they're dealing with all of this, physically and mentally. Mimi's mobility has returned, but she hasn't seemed even the least bit happy. Her attitude on the bus was more apathetic, now it's, something else. Can't quite put my finger on it."  
  
Mimi, on the other hand, had her mind on only one thing: food.  
  
"I am sooooo hungry!" she silently whimpered. "How can I be expected to live off of a stick of Pocky? The water around here isn't exactly what I'd call sanitary, either. Gotta stop thinking about food. I know! I'll put on my headphones. Wait, that might be considered rude. But no one's talking, and I'm too hungry to start a conversation. Ack! Food again. Oh this is not going to be pleasant." Mimi pressed on her stomach, trying to suppress the painful empty feeling she wasn't accustomed to.  
  
"Hungry?" Yamato asked. Mimi nodded her head slightly and cringed, whimpering slightly. "Just think of your least favorite food, and ask yourself 'am I hungry enough to eat that?' and imagine yourself eating it." Mimi thought for a moment.  
  
"Cucumbers," she decided. Then she closed her eyes and imagined herself picking up a slice and dropping it into her mouth. The slimy seeds slipped over her tongue and the sickly sweet flavor burst in her mouth, causing convulsions in her stomach. She held her nose to swallow it, but she could still taste it in her mouth.  
  
"That helped, thanks," Mimi told Yamato, feeling a little sickly from the pretend cucumber. "Better alternative than hunger."  
  
"Ya know," Koushiro interjected, "we should try playing a game to get to know each other better. We've been thrust into the same difficult situation, after all, and it may be beneficial later on if we feel more comfortable around each other."  
  
"Fine with me," Mimi stated blandly. Yamato just shrugged. "What kind of game?"  
  
"We each take turns in asking one other member of the group a question about themselves that they must answer, truthfully may I add. Other than keeping the questions relatively appropriate, there are no rules." Yamato nodded his head in approval. Koushiro turned to Mimi. "Well?" Mimi thought for a moment.  
  
"I'll play, as long as I get to be the judge of whether the question is appropriate or not. AND," she added, abruptly, "Takeru has to wear my headphones the entire time. If I know guys, and even girls for that matter, the questions won't stay appropriate for long." She unzipped the backpack, still on Yamato's shoulders, and took out her CD player. "Here you go," she said as she knelt down and handed it to Takeru. "Now be careful with it, and turn up the volume so you can't hear us, but don't blow out your ears, okay?" Takeru nodded his head vigorously.  
  
"Okay!"  
  
Mimi stood back up. "Ok," she proclaimed, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "I'll go first." She spun violently and pointed a finger at Yamato. "What were you doing with the contents of my backpack last night?" His eyes widened as he stumbled over his words.  
  
"I, ah, that it, I thought it might be a good idea if I stayed up guard, you know, as protection, and, um, how did you know?" Mimi glared at him.  
  
"My notebook was behind my sketchbook this morning, not in front of it. Go on with your HONEST answer." The edge on Mimi's voice was not unintentional. She was trying to scare a full answer out of Yamato while making sure he never unzipped her backpack again, with or without her permission.  
  
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, but I was just so bored, and I thought you might have a book or something in there!" Mimi suppressed a smirk; he was so easy to break.  
  
"And I don't have any books in there, so what did you do instead, read my notebook?" Mimi stood on her toes and glared directly in Yamato's face.  
  
"What is this, and ice-breaker or an interrogation?" Koushiro interrupted, slightly annoyed. Mimi pulled back and folded her arms matter-of-factly.  
  
"I'm merely trying to get a full answer, that's all. You two may do the same when it's your turn."  
  
"I read your damn notebook, ok? There was a story in it, so I read it." Yamato's voice turned bitter. "And it wasn't the kind of story that should be written anyway, so full of hatred and words that make us sound like total animals." Mimi slowed walking and her eyes widened.  
  
"You, read THAT story?" she gasped. "How could you? How COULD you?" At first Yamato thought Mimi was mad, but then he saw the tears welling up in her eyes and the horrified expression on her face. "That's not a story that's meant to be read! That's a stream of consciousness, personal feelings welled up deep inside clawing away at your heart until eventually they have to be let out. That's not the kind of story that's meant to be read by anyone!" She tried to cover up her tears, but they streamed out of her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks all the same. "How could you," she muttered, her words choking her.  
  
Abruptly she lifted her right hand and slapped herself on the cheek. Then, smiling weakly, she turned toward Yamato and said, her voice straining, "your turn."  
  
Yamato thought for a moment, planning out how to word his thoughts, then asked "is it true what you wrote in there; do you believe it? And," he added quickly, before Mimi could answer, "was that story based off of, personal experience?" Mimi's smug look returned to her face as she answered.  
  
"I suppose," she replied, "a writer must believe at least some of what they write, in order to make it believable, despite their persona. At times I do hate the male gender, and I have plenty of reasons to do so." She stared Yamato straight in the face, "The story, however, was based purely off of personal observation, not experience." She giggled briefly and then looked back at the path ahead. Yamato felt relieved, at least a little, but felt like he was left with only a half-answer. Koushiro, meanwhile, couldn't have been more confused.  
  
"What are they talking about? What journal entry? Well, I suppose it's not any of my business anyway. Oh, great, it's my turn now, what am I going to ask?" He thought for a moment, racking his brain for an intelligent question that didn't relate to the previous topic yet still would be of interest. "Mimi, have-" he was cut off by a loud crashing noise coming from up ahead. Yamato grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him closer to the group. Gabumon and Tentomon, who until now had silently trailed behind the foursome, now leapt forward, alertly scanning the area for danger.  
  
"Aaah! Nii-chan, nii-chan," Takeru whimpered, pulling on his brother's shirtsleeve and pointing into the trees. There, five ghost-like creatures floated. Mimi's eyes widened.  
  
"Bakemon!" Tentomon wailed.  
  
"Run?" She squeaked. Yamato and Koushiro nodded stiffly before dashing back up the path with Takeru, Mimi, and the three Digimon following. Then, no more than ten feet away, two more ghost-like Digimon emerged from the trees. The group skidded to a halt and looked behind them where the five other Digimon floated. They were completely surrounded. "So what now?" Mimi shrieked.  
  
"Don't worry," Gabumon replied, "we'll fight for you." Determination rang in his voice, but the three Digimon were hopelessly outnumbered.  
  
The fight was over before any of the humans had time to see it. Gabumon and Tentomon lay on the ground and Patamon had been flung into a tree. The Bakemon grinned and advanced on the foursome, who had collapsed to the ground shaking.  
  
"Help" Mimi squeaked. One of the Bakemon reached an arm out towards her, its teeth gnashing at the air. Mimi covered her head with her arms and tried to scream, but her voice caught in her throat and a mere peep escaped her mouth. The Bakemon wailed suddenly, as did the others. Mimi waited and, nothing. She slowly glanced up and, seeing the Bakemon no less than ten centimeters away from her head, screamed and quickly scooted towards the riverbank. Panting, she looked at the Bakemon, but it was stone still. She glanced around; the six other Bakemon appeared to be suspended, frozen, in midair. She looked at the other three. "What, happened?"  
  
"Why, I did that." Mimi turned around towards the river and shrieked. "Well, it would appear that you remember me."  
  
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Author's note: Eh, sorry I take so long with my story. Just about all of my creativity and other writing skill kinda get drained with all of the English papers that I have to write. Maybe over winter break . . . ? Kind of a bizarre place for me to end this chapter, I realize. That's why it's part 1! ^^ Please enjoy the future chapters, and don't forget to comment. The more, and the more detailed, the better! 


	7. United We Fall part 2

Author's Note: I've now got a website up so that I can post illustrations for "Replaced"! It's at:  
  
http : // groups. msn. com/ ReplacedIllustrations/ shoebox. msnw (you'll have to delete the spaces . . . the address won't show up without them)  
  
They aren't great pictures, but at least you'll know what Katamon looks like now! Which is a good thing, because I'm not renowned for picture- quality descriptions. ~_^  
  
Now, on with the story  
  
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Chapter Seven: United We Fall (part 2)  
  
"Ka-Katamon!" Mimi stuttered, inching away from the small, blue Digimon. "What are you doing here? What do you want?" She managed to ask. Katamon smiled at her, a sneer more of, as if to say "you're beneath me; be surprised I'm even speaking to you."  
  
"Is this the thanks I get for saving you? I can un-freeze the Bakemon at any moment you know. If you don't want my help, you can face them on your own again," Katamon said as she turned back towards the river.  
  
"Fine!" Mimi spat angrily. "What do you want, to beg for forgiveness for suffocating me before?" Mimi could feel her blood boil and her head throb painfully. Behind the anger though, she wanted to run away. That would solve her problem: running.  
  
"That wasn't purposeful," Katamon frowned. "I was hoping we'd have a caring relationship as partners, but apparently that's just a dream." She closed her eyes and sat there on the riverbank. Slowly and so gradually that Mimi and the others didn't even notice immediately, Katamon began to rise into the air. "However," she continued, "it would appear that you need me. Maybe not right away, but soon you will find your team too weak." Katamon hovered in the air, level with Mimi's head. "And," she said forcefully, "you will find me to be valuable." She opened her eyes again. "So I'll be back." She back flipped through the air and dove into the river.  
  
Yamato pointed and stuttered. "Th-th-that was your partner Digimon?! How do you know her? I thought you said that you never met your Digimon!" Mimi glared at the ground, but the glaring gave way to tears.  
  
"So maybe I did meet her, but I wish I hadn't! Just my luck I'd end up with an arrogant, disrespectful, and reckless Digimon partner."  
  
Yamato stood, wary of a Bakemon hovering over his head. "Well, maybe you should just be nice to her-"  
  
Mimi turned and glared at him through teary eyes. "Nice to her, nice to her? Maybe it hasn't gotten through your thick, playboy head that she tried to kill me? As in she, using some crazy psychic powers or something, suffocated me!"  
  
Yamato glared back, insulted. "We obviously need all the help we can get surviving here, and Kata-whatever is obviously powerful! Not to mention," he added, turning away from her, "I think an arrogant, disrespectful, reckless Digimon makes a perfect partner for you."  
  
Mimi ground her teeth sharply, contemplating a comeback. Not finding one and feeling the tears threatening to cascade down from underneath her eyelids, she turned and ran into the woods, almost tripping over a log.  
  
"Stupid girl," Yamato grumbled, "of all of the girls in the world, I had to get stranded here with her, HER!"  
  
Koushiro, meanwhile, had dashed off after Mimi. "How naive is she?" he thought, panicked, "she can't just go running off into the woods like that! Who knows what other Digimon there are in there, and she's totally vulnerable."  
  
"Ahem" Koushiro turned around and saw Mimi with her back leaned up against a tree looking down at the ground. He stopped running and walked over. Mimi glanced up. "I may be mad, but I'm not stupid." She smiled weakly.  
  
"Matt has a point you know." Mimi nodded.  
  
"I know. I just wanted to pretend that what happened really didn't and . . . a different partner Digimon was just waiting for me to find." She rubbed her eyes with her wrist. "At least I got that much."  
  
"You got what?" Koushiro asked. Mimi shrugged.  
  
"Katamon, when I first met her, seemed innocent and, well, bubbly almost. Back there, well, you were there. Bubbly she was not." She sniffed and looked up, rubbing her eyes again. "It was like she was a different creature entirely."  
  
"Maybe she thought she had killed her own partner. Thinking that she was a murderer could have easily caused her to harden up."  
  
"Probably." Mimi shrugged again, turned, and walked back to the riverbank.  
  
"'Bout time" Yamato greeted her as she exited from the woods. "Gabumon, Patamon, and Tentomon just woke up, and I'd rather not be around when those ghosts wake up too." He stood up, holding a terrified Takeru in his arms and, as a second, reluctant thought, bent down and picked up Mimi's backpack, slinging it over a shoulder. "Mimi, do you think it's time to go?" he asked, mockingly.  
  
Smirking, she replied, "yes, oh fearless one, lead the way." With that, they stomped off.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
After thirty minutes of total silence, Takeru whimpered, "I need to go." Yamato put him down on the ground and was about to walk him into the woods.  
  
"I'll take him!" Koushiro interjected abruptly. Yamato stared at him as he shuffled over and took Takeru by the hand. Nonchalantly, so Mimi didn't notice, he leaned over and whispered, "Apologize to her! I don't like emotionally distressed girls, and particularly not this one." With that, he and Takeru disappeared into the trees.  
  
Yamato glanced over at where Mimi was standing, hands-on-hips, staring at the southern horizon. "Whatcha looking at?" he mumbled, so soft he figured she could not hear him.  
  
"The river," she replied, to his surprise. "To where we are headed; the river never seems to end or even twist off course, you know. The monotony is eerie in a sense." Her mild tone prompted Yamato to be blunt.  
  
"So you're not mad." Mimi shook her head slightly.  
  
"Not really, not anymore. Being angry eats up energy, energy obtained from food. No food, no anger." She twisted her head to face him. "Feel fortunate; I'm typically not like this after an argument."  
  
"Just an argument, not a fight?" Yamato asked, encouraged. Mimi chuckled weakly.  
  
"Not a fight. Trust me, you'd know if it was a fight. People do not come out of fights with me with all four limbs." She sat down on a boulder. "Of course, I'd never actually do that. Might want to, but that's different of course."  
  
Koushiro, hearing the silence, picked now to waltz out from the trees again with Takeru. "I suppose," he told himself, "that's the closest these two are getting to an apology" and he handed Takeru back to his brother.  
  
"I wanna go home," Takeru sniffled as they continued down the path. Yamato didn't even answer; he didn't have the energy or willpower to keep lying to himself and his brother about how much fun this "adventure" was.  
  
"We're getting nowhere," Mimi moaned.  
  
"Actually," Koushiro replied, "we've covered a commendable about of ground in the time-"  
  
"No, not that," Mimi interrupted, "I meant that it feels like we're stuck on an old record that keeps skipping backwards and replaying the same few seconds over and over. We're all hungry, we're all walking down a path in never-changing scenery; we keep doing the same things over and over again. Takeru wants to go home, someone gets mad at someone else; it's like being stuck in a painting."  
  
"Apparently you need some brain fuel to come up with a conversation topic like that," Yamato muttered.  
  
"If you're going to be so grouchy about it, I suppose we could have a lunch break." Mimi unzipped her backpack and pulled out the remaining chocolate pocky sticks. "Enjoy the nourishment as there's a good chance you won't be seeing anything this good for dinner. Or breakfast for that matter. Or lunch." She handed out the sticks: each of the seven members of the group got one and a quarter pieces.  
  
They continued walking in silence, slowly munching their sticks of pocky. It was difficult for them to keep the relatively speedy walking pace, but the thought of the slim possibility that a berry bush lay around the next bend helped. Koushiro, however, had managed to push all thoughts of food to the back of his mind by forcing himself to try and ponder the complexities of the position he was in. Quickly, he stumbled across an intriguing possibility.  
  
"Do any of you remember your dreams from last night?" he asked.  
  
"Well, not really," Yamato replied, "of course I didn't get much sleep last night anyways."  
  
"I don't" Takeru replied wearily.  
  
Mimi, on the other hand, was having a more difficult time finding a truthful answer. Although she couldn't remember the plot or content of any of her dreams, she felt as if the memory of one was resting just out of reach of her conscious mind.  
  
"I think I had a dream last night, but I don't really remember it. Why?"  
  
Koushiro shifted his laptop slightly, as the straps were digging into his shoulders, before answering. "I was just thinking that if we're in a place called the Digital World, with digital monsters and whatnot, and our thoughts and dreams are really just electrical currents traveling through our brains . . ." he paused, trying to find the right words to explain his thought process. "It's like connecting two unrelated electrical appliances. If you have the right adapters, you can get them to communicate to each other. This world, if it truly is of a digital make, is composed of electrical currents, much like our brains. Meaning that, somehow, it should be possible to mentally connect with this world and everything in it, maybe even control it. Get it?"  
  
"Mmm," Yamato replied, exhausted and apathetic. Mimi, on the other hand, got some insight of her own.  
  
"You could have worded that better, but I think you've got something there. It does provide an explanation about how Katamon can bring about paralysis. If the brain communicates with the rest of the body through electrical currents, and Katamon can somehow control the electrical flow of creatures in the Digital World, she could stop the brain from sending messages to the rest of the body, causing paralysis."  
  
Koushiro nodded. "Try and remember your dreams tonight; dreams, unlike conscious thoughts, are much more susceptible to influence by outside factors. We may be able to strengthen our connection with the Digital World through them. If we could alter the environment around us, like Katamon can, we'd be able to program whatever we want, be it food, shelter, safety, etc."  
  
Mimi groaned. "That would be sweet, programming food I mean. I could go for some sashimi about now; no wasabi, no sauce, nothing but raw fish." The group stumbled along, dreaming about the different foods they'd create for themselves with the ability, and their attention strayed from the path and their surroundings. For this reason, they were taken completely by surprise when a group of ten or so rock-like Digimon surrounded them, pointing relatively primitive-looking weapons inward.  
  
"Oh shit," Yamato murmured, "we never get a break from this madness, do we?" Takeru clung to his brother's leg and started crying.  
  
Suppressing his anxiety, Koushiro calmly asked them "for what purpose do you hold us prisoner? If we have somehow insulted or disturbed you in some way, we apologize; it was not intentional. We are just passing by, trying to get home." The largest of these walking rocks thrust a spear at his throat, stopping centimeters from his skin. Koushiro's heart raced and his muscles tightened as he stared at the spear.  
  
"Silence!" the Digimon demanded. "The chief will decide your fates, and punishment for your lies. Your feigned ignorance insults us! How can you claim to the death of five of our innocent children was 'unintentional'? You humans are murderers who threaten the members of our, and other, clans and for that obvious purpose, we arrest you!"  
  
Mimi, her logic blinded by fatigue, hunger, and frustration, stepped forward and pushed the spear away. "Point that twig somewhere else, why doncha? He was just trying to be diplomatic and solve this mess peacefully, and you go and threaten to punch a hole through his neck? And you say we're dangerous? Like he said, we're just trying to get home, not to mention the fact that we're starving, tired, and in all honesty are in desperate need of a bath."  
  
"Mimi," Yamato whispered harshly nudging her, "knock it off."  
  
"Oh shut up and let me finish," she snapped back. "Listen, we've already been through more than enough, and I don't know anything about your murdered children; you are the first we've ever seen of your species anyway. So how about letting us go so you can go and catch the real criminals here and we can leave this goddamn place already!" The Digimon appeared surprised and taken-aback by Mimi's sudden and rather aggressive outburst, but quickly regained his composure.  
  
"The chief will determine whether you are innocent or not, and how best to sew your clamorous mouth shut," he added, with a smirk. Mimi ground her teeth and clenched her hands, but surprisingly did not retaliate. Angrily, she and the others allowed the Digimon to lead them off through the forest at spear-point.  
  
"Great going, genius," Yamato growled at Mimi, "now you've got them mad. I'm sure they'll but in a wonderful note about our innocent-seeming behavior when we get dumped off for judgment."  
  
"And what did you do, Mr. You'realwayswrongI'malwaysright? You just stood there trembling in your boots, I'm sure. Or are you just upset that a girl took the initiative to prove that we're not going to keep putting up with all this B.S.?"  
  
"Now what's that all about? What gave you the idea that I'm some sexist 'playboy'? You act like you know me so well. Obviously you don't know everything, despite the fact that you are convinced you do! Sorry, but this group's only got one child prodigy in it, and, my apologies, it's not you! So stop acting like you're so above me." Yamato clenched Takeru's hand tightly. Wisely, Takeru refrained from mentioning the slight pain to his brother and just kept silently walking.  
  
"Oh, I'll tell you why. Not only do you go through my stuff and read my notebook and disagree with every little thing I say and constantly try to put me down, do you remember how we met? I do believe it went something like this: it was sunrise and you were just coming back from a girl's cabin. On the first day, of course, you couldn't wait to have some fun."  
  
"Stop it!" Koushiro snapped. "Like you said, Yamato, the-whatever-are already mad enough, and the last thing we should be doing is fighting each other. And like you said, Mimi, we're all hungry and fatigued and have obviously lost all sensibility!" The uncharacteristic violence in Koushiro's voice silenced them immediately. They marched on in silence until they reached the Digimon village.  
  
The largest Digimon pointed towards three separate buildings. "The other Digimon go in there, the normal humans in that one, and the noisy one goes in there." Mimi scrunched up her nose and snorted as she was led off towards the building.  
  
Suddenly, Yamato broke free of the grip of his captors and ran towards Mimi. "It's not what you think!" He yelled.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The girl I was with that night, Kaede, I was helping her get through withdrawal." The Digimon grabbed hold of his arms and dragged him back. "She's an acquaintance from school; her parents suspected that she was doing drugs, so they sent her to camp for a week to confirm their suspicions," he explained, trying vainly to shake off the Digimon's grip. "She did crack nearly every day, and she . . . she couldn't go through it alone, ok? So there's your explanation!"  
  
"I-" Mimi tried to respond, but she stumbled trying to find the words. "I, I didn't know," she shamefully whispered, and was pushed into the doorway of the stone building.  
  
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Author's Notes:  
  
Writing, the art crafted in complete darkness, save pale blue shadows cast across the floor. The air, still and cold. The moon a muse, the sun a distraction. Solitude provides inspiration; others leech away the atmosphere the writer strives so hard to create. In this way a writer can create another world as they have been sucked into a vortex themselves.  
  
Considering the difficulty involved in this mood-setting process, writing opportunities rarely present themselves, and typically must be filled with schoolwork. This in itself is the main reason why the writing process is so slow for me, it can only occur at certain times in certain situations. I apologize, but without the correct environment, my stories suffer greatly, and I can say with certainty that my audience would rather a slowly developed story than a quick, but poorly constructed, one, ne?  
  
Also, to clear up any confusion, Jou is in 12th grade, but everyone else is in 11th or possibly 10th. Takeru is the same age as he is in the 1st season TV show. 


	8. La Inquisición Digital

Author's Notes: I've now got a story up on FictionPress.net as well, so you might want to check it out. It's significantly different in tone and writing style though, and has subtle messages (whereas this story has none) so don't expect the same experience, but you might like it. You never know.  
  
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Chapter Eight: La Inquisición Digital  
  
The Gotsumon (as Mimi discovered they called themselves) had tossed Mimi in a dark, dank, and relatively stereotypical dungeon-like cell and stripped her of her backpack. She had made up some pathetic lie about how she required a device in her backpack to help her breathe in cases of respiratory attacks and had managed to swipe her CD player. This helped her condition, but not much.  
  
She sat in the dark on a low bench, obviously built for the shorter Gotsumon, for about an hour, listening to her music and scanning the cell, trying to find a weakness in its construction but found none; there was not even a window to squeeze out of, just a few inch-thick slots at the very top of the wall that let in light. Eventually, the great stone door leading to her cell swung open and one of the guards stepped in holding a short black strap in his hand. Mimi, eyeing the strap nervously, asked bitterly if he was to be the waiter for this evening.  
  
"The chief will accept your presence now," he grunted, walking over to her. Mimi stood up to leave, but the guard reached up, grabbed her elbow, and pulled her back down onto the bench roughly.  
  
"Ow! how about being more considerate? Hey, what are you doing?!" she squealed in annoyance and surprise as he wrapped the strap snuggly around her neck and fastened it. She immediately tried to pull it off, but somehow it had closed and now formed a continuous piece of cold, but surprisingly malleable, black metal. "What is this thing? Take it off this instant!" she shrieked. The guard just grabbed her hand and led her out of the cell. The door slammed shut behind them and Mimi yanked her hand back and jumped, startled. Surprisingly, the guard did not grab her hand again. Instead, he began to walk down one of the corridors. Mimi, not knowing what else to do, followed him. "Hey," she asked, "how come you don't know I'm going to take off or something?" The guard looked up at her with a slight smirk.  
  
"Not happening" he murmured and kept walking. Eventually, they made their way to two large stone doors, each about twenty feet high and ten feet across. As they walked up the doors opened slowly, revealing a room proportional in size to the doors. The guard motioned towards the cavernous room but did not step inside. "The great chief, Monochromon, is waiting. Oh, and the other prisoners wanted the breathing device you're holding back." He pointed to the CD player in Mimi's hand. She handed it over and stepped hesitantly through the threshold, and again, found the door slamming shut behind her.  
  
"Eep. Not a friendly place," she thought. She stepped quietly along the marble floor, looking about for signs of life. "Hello?" she asked meekly. With that, the room instantly brightened as hundreds of torches simultaneously caught fire. Unlike all other parts of the building, this one had a softer, warmer feel to it; there were tapestries and paintings hanging on the walls and the marble floor shone brilliantly, reflecting the glow of the torches hung systematically on the walls about three feet from each other. The scene could have been taken straight out of medieval Europe. At the far end of the room Mimi saw a golden platform and seated on it a large Digimon that she assumed was Monochromon. It had the appearance of a dinosaur, a Triceratops more specifically, except that it was covered with metal armor. "That's one over-sized and intimidating monster" Mimi told herself with a nervous shiver. "So, um, what exactly did you call me here for?" she asked, with forced aggression. The Digimon actually smiled (somehow).  
  
"So, you're the 'ill-behaved' human my soldiers mentioned to me. Why, the meaning of this discussion is just that: to discuss the situation. Now," he said, in a commanding voice, "do you believe you are guilty for committing the crime of murdering four of our young tribe members?"  
  
"Hey!" Mimi interjected, "what is this, a discussion or an interrogation? And besides," she muttered, "I thought it was five Digimon." With that, the ring around her neck emitted an electric shock that resonated through her body like a crash of thunder. She clawed at her neck, trying to rip off the metal collar but to no avail. Slowly, the shock diminished in strength and Mimi collapsed to her knees. She sat there for a moment, stunned, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Quickly, her fear and confusion turned into a blind rage. "What the hell was that?" she screamed, her high-pitched voice resonating throughout the room. "An electric shock that strong could have easily killed me!"  
  
"Ah, but it didn't," the Digimon reminded her. "And why do you suppose that is?" Mimi opened her mouth to shout again, but then found that she couldn't come up with a response and shut it. Monochromon stepped off of the platform onto the marble floor and walked slowly to where Mimi sat. She quickly stood so as not to appear too intimidated. "There is something you should understand about the Digital World that differs greatly from your own: in your world, pain is a sign of injury or danger, so that you might escape the threat. Here, however, injury or death can be painless, and pain, in turn, can be completely harmless, at least physically speaking. The infliction of pain can still, of course, have psychological effects."  
  
"But," Mimi responded, with some of her courage returning, "anything and everything psychological is equally biological."  
  
"Indeed. So I suppose that there is something to fear from pain." Monochromon responded with melodramatic disappointment. Mimi frowned at this, realizing that the Digimon now had just won the argument by purposely setting Mimi up with a logical fallacy that would prove his point wrong.  
  
"Who'd have thought they'd be so cunning?" she wondered. "But even more bizarre: how did he know that I'd even notice the logical fallacy?"  
  
"We should return to our previous, and more important, topic; once we finish, you can have something to eat, for I'm certain you're quite famished by now." Mimi's stomach growled at the mention of food.  
  
"Don't try to manipulate my answers with promises of food," she warned angrily, but she knew that in the end, she would have to cave in.  
  
"I'm certainly not meaning to," Monochromon replied with feigned insult. "I'm just trying to speed things along, that's all. Besides, my questions are relative to the investigation; it's not like I'm asking you how many fingers I'm holding up." Mimi's eyes widened in astonishment. "And," the Digimon continued, pretending not to notice the terror in Mimi's eyes, "I'm sure you're wondering what the whole electric shock thing is about." He walked over towards one wall and motioned towards a metallic box-like device with his head. On it was a dial. "It responds to my wishes through remote-control by monitoring my brainwaves." He paused for a moment, as if to build the suspense. "You can see that the numbers on this dial run up to a hundred. Will you please remember, throughout our conversation, that I have it in my power to inflict pain on you at any moment and to whatever degree I choose. If you tell any lies, or attempt to prevaricate in any way, or even fall below your usual level of intelligence, you will cry out with pain instantly. Do you understand that?" Mimi backed towards the door.  
  
"How could you possibly know? Cease this allusion instantly! I must be stuck in a dream; how else can you know what I know?" Monochromon turned back towards her.  
  
"Yes, George Orwell's "1984" did have an impact on you when you read it, didn't it? He was quite an influential writer, and British, wasn't he?" The smile returned to his face. "Think Mimi. What do we call this place?"  
  
"The Digital World," she responded hesitantly.  
  
"Correct. And why do you suppose we call it the Digital World?"  
  
"I don't know!" Mimi wailed, despite the fact that the answer existed in her brain. The hunger and fatigue and the constant interrogation was wearing away at her stamina and capabilities, both physical and mental.  
  
"Then, why does your friend think so?"  
  
"I don't know!" she wailed again, this time accompanied by tears. Again, the band around her neck released a surge of electricity, turning her cries into screams.  
  
"LISTEN!" Monochromon shouted as the shock faded, "the Digital World is like a great computer program; it's a place consisting of 1's and 0's, a world created and manipulated by technology." He lowered his voice to normal speech. "Wouldn't it be logical that the door swings both ways? If we're just like a computer program, why shouldn't we be able to access the data stored in computers and other technology?" The great stone doors swung open again, revealing the Gotsumon guard.  
  
To Mimi, Monochromon said, "We'll continue this discussion later, after you regain your senses. Make sure to get plenty of food and rest; tomorrow's going to be a big day." Mimi stumbled towards the door and, supported by the guard, back to her cell. "Oh, and guard," Monochromon added, "prepare a nice variety of foods for her to choose from; she's useless in this maniacal state."  
  
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Author's Notes:  
  
In this chapter, I've added some of the technology from season 2. Don't be surprised if elements from this later time appear occasionally; this fanfic is only season 1 and will never be season 2 anyway, so it really doesn't matter. When I originally planned out what might happen in "Replaced" (over two years ago), I was going to follow the story-line of the show pretty closely, but after writing the first two chapters, I realized that was not happening. I haven't seen Digimon season one at all in about a year and a half now, so I've forgotten many elements of the show, particularly the plot. Not to mention, what's the point of a fanfic if it just becomes a retelling? For these reasons, I have taken the idea of Digimon, the characters, and basic plotline and expanded it, making it my own world with my own rules.  
  
Also, I've never been a big fan of Taichi, Sora, or Jou, and Takeru's too young to really play a major role, so you probably won't see much of these characters. However, I associate with Yamato, Koushiro, and my recreation of Mimi so obviously, they've taken the role of major characters. Someone else (or even myself for that matter) could easily rewrite the story focusing on the other group of characters more, as the group as a whole has split up (and will probably continue to do so). One of the major flaws with the show is that there are too many main characters, which means the development of each of them suffers greatly. By keeping the number of characters to four or less the story gains realism (in real life, even though a large group of friends might go to the mall or movies together, they inevitably split up into groups of three or four).  
  
Oh, and if you haven't read "1984" by George Orwell, I highly suggest you go out and buy or borrow the book. Not only will you be able to comprehend the goings-on in this chapter better, but you will have also read one of the most influential and important books in the 20th century. Allusions and references to it appear everywhere; even in Star Trek. And please don't shy away from the book because it shares the same author as "Animal Farm"; the two books are nothing alike. 


End file.
